Button accordion, accordion, harmonica ... For inexperienced people, far from music, there is no difference between these instruments: it’s an accordion, and this is an accordion. Such people can calmly come to a musical instrument store and, pointing to the accordion, ask: "Give me this accordion!" They confuse accordionists with accordionists, and those and others with accordionists ...
And yet there are differences, and quite significant ones. But in order to understand how the button accordion differs from the accordion, you need to say a few words about their common progenitor.
All accordions, like button accordions and accordions, are reed musical instruments. Since they have a keyboard, they are simultaneously considered keyboards, more precisely, pneumatic keys. But still, the main feature that distinguishes any accordion is the tongue, a flexible steel plate, when vibrated, a sound is produced. The tongue is driven differently in different instruments. For example, the jew's harp is played by pressing it to the teeth and simultaneously hitting the tongue with your fingers, and the mouth serves as a resonator here. Opening it narrower or wider, you can get sounds of different timbre.
In the accordion, the tongues vibrate in the flow of air, which the performer forces, squeezing and stretching the fur. They are fixed on metal slats with slots through which air passes, and come in different sizes: some are more massive and larger - these reeds give lower sounds, others are lighter and smaller - here the sounds are higher.
Each strip has two tabs on both sides, separated by a leather flap in such a way that when the fur is compressed, only one of them vibrates, and when the fur is stretched, the other. Accordingly, there are also two slots that overlap the tabs.
To amplify the sound, air chambers are used - resonators, to which the strips are attached. These resonators are made of wood (usually spruce). Together with the strips, they are assembled into blocks that are installed inside the accordion body on the deck - a special partition with holes. The resonator blocks are located on the side of the deck, which is closer to the fur, and on the side of the body there are valves for air supply. These valves are connected to buttons and covered with a grill.
When buttons are pressed, the valves open, air flows through the deck, and the reeds vibrate to create a sound.
Sometimes the size of the reeds on the sound bars, which means their musical tone, can be different. Therefore, all accordions are divided into two large groups: in one, the reeds at the "entry" and "exit" are the same, the most famous accordion of this type is lame. In the second group, these reeds are different, which gives sounds of different heights. This type includes such accordions as a talianka (distorted "Italian").
The left keyboard buttons are located on the case itself. It is intended for accompaniment. Pressing one button on it opens several resonator chambers at once, and a whole chord sounds.
The melody itself is played on the right keyboard. Here, the buttons are on the neck attached to the body and have metal levers that extend to the valves. They are located in one or more rows (hence the names "one-row", "two-row", etc.). Pressing one button opens only one resonator - and therefore a single pure musical tone sounds.
In 1783, the Czech master Kirchnik, who lived in St. Petersburg, discovered a new (as it seemed to him) way to extract sounds - with the help of metal tongues. In 1821, the Berlin master Bushmann created a harmonica on the basis of this method, and in next year tried to attach fur to it. In 1829, Viennese inventor Kirill Demian came up with an instrument he called the accordion because left keyboard it was the same as that of modern harmonics - chordal: pressing one button produced a whole chord. However, this instrument did not yet have a right keyboard.
Around the 1830s, the novelty penetrated into Russia, acquired a simple name there - an accordion - and gained great popularity.
But the musicians immediately noticed that simple accordions also have disadvantages. For example, they have a limited sound range (few octaves). They usually have only one key and are either major or minor.
Therefore, the question soon arose about the invention of such a musical instrument that would have the advantages of an accordion, but at the same time would have an extensive scale and an evenly tempered musical scale (that is, such a scale where each octave is divided into 12 mathematically equal semitones). This scale has been used in academic music for several centuries. Its other name is "full chromatic scale".
Throughout the 19th century, various firms and craftsmen in Europe and Russia worked to improve the accordion. The right keyboard was added to the left keyboard, various prototypes of the button accordion and accordion with a piano keyboard appeared - among them the "piano accordion" from the city of Yelets and the chromatic harmonica of Nikolai Ivanovich Beloborodov, created in 1870.
In 1907, the inventor Peter Yegorovich Sterligov made the first three-row button accordion, and in 1913, a five-row one.
Around the same time, chromatic harmonics with a piano keyboard, that is, modern accordions, became widespread in Europe. V Soviet Union they hit around the 1930s.
First, as already mentioned in the article, both the button accordion and the accordion are chromatic harmonics, that is, they have an evenly tempered scale (12 semitones per octave) and a wide range of octaves.
Secondly, the button accordion and accordion structure is similar, in particular the left keyboard. It is intended for bass notes (the first two rows of buttons) and for chords (the other four rows are major, minor, seventh, diminished seventh).
Coming to a musical instrument store to buy a suitable harmonica, you need to know that there is one more important nuance.
Both button accordions and accordions are divided into three types: ready-made, elective, and ready-elective. For the ready-made ones, the left keyboard is configured as described above. For the elective, it, just like the right one, is needed in order to extract not chords, but individual notes. In the third type - ready-to-use - you can switch between the two modes. There is a special register key on the left keyboard for switching. In the selective mode, the rows with chords turn into a kind of right keyboard of a four-row button accordion, only mirrored.
Professional musicians love pre-selected accordions and button accordions most of all, since the possibilities of these instruments are very wide. They are a little more difficult to master than ready-made ones, but you can play almost anything on them - even Bach fugues.
In addition to different shapes body (the button accordion is more rectangular, the accordion is more rounded), and the shape of the neck (the accordion has a longer neck), the main difference between the button accordion and the accordion is the keyboard for the right hand.
On the right accordion keyboard, there are three to five rows of buttons representing a full chromatic scale and covering a range of 5-6 octaves. There are both 3-row and 5-row button accordions, and in the five-row button accordion, the first and second rows of buttons are similar to the fourth and fifth. When played on it, this makes it easier to transition from one key to another.
Right keyboard an accordion is a series of massive piano-like keys. As a rule, there are 41 keys on the fretboard. The right keyboard also has several register switches. With their help, they change the timbre of a sound or its pitch, making the sound an octave higher or lower. Concert accordion models also have switches that you can press with your chin without interrupting your play.
However, the accordion keyboard itself covers a smaller range than the accordion keyboard. As a button accordion-like musical instrument, the accordion (aside from the register switches) can only play three and a half octaves.
And finally, the main thing that distinguishes the button accordion from the accordion is the sound. In the accordion, the vocal tongues are tuned with a slight inconsistency, the musicians call it "on tap", which gives a more velvety sound. The accordion's reeds are tuned in unison, and the sound is clearer.
The most widely known accordions are those with a three-row keyboard in the right hand and with ready-made chords in the left, five- or six-row keyboard. Such accordions, at the place of their initial production and distribution, began to be called Moscow, in contrast to the so-called Leningrad, four-row. Now there are accordions with five rows on the right keyboard.
In addition, there are elective button accordions with a three-row keyboard in both the right and left hand. Here, chords are freely selectable on the keyboard, just like on the piano, depending on how they are written. Recently, combined button accordions have appeared, which can be played both as a button accordion with ready-made chords, and as an elective.
Orchestral accordions with one right keyboard are used in folk instrument orchestras. There is a whole family of them: piccolo, soprano, alto, tenor, bass and double bass. They differ from each other not only in range, but also in timbre. In addition, there are special orchestral - timbre button accordions: they sound similar to the flute, clarinet, bassoon and other instruments of a symphony orchestra.
Consider the device of a conventional three-row button accordion with ready-made chords.
The box-shaped wooden body of the button accordion consists of two halves interconnected by fur. Inside each half-case there are decks on which resonators with voice strips are fixed on the side of the fur, and outside there is a valve mechanism with a keyboard.
The keys of the right hand are placed on a special bar - the neck, and the left - on the front, half-body wall. Both mechanisms are covered from above with lattice covers. From the inside, the covers are pasted over with a thin thick cloth, which is a filter that protects voices from dust.
On the left half-body, a short belt is attached, under which, when playing, it is threaded left hand... In addition to playing the keyboard, the left hand stretches and squeezes the fur, forcing air.
TO right half two straps are attached to the body, which are worn over the shoulders and firmly hold the instrument during play, freeing the right hand from supporting forces.
The fur is a four-sided corrugated box, pasted over with fabric on the outside. The fur is glued to small narrow wooden frames, and they are already directly attached to both halves of the body using pins or hooks. The folds of the fur - the corners - are glued from the inside with strips of husky, thin soft deerskin, and on top for greater strength they are reinforced with special metal corners.
The button accordion body is glued from thin beech or birch planks. The corners of the body are glued into a tenon " dovetail". In addition, the corners from above are fixed with metal decorative plates that protect them from damage and sticking.
Unlike decks on other instruments, decks on button accordions are not a resonating device, but serve only as a mechanical airtight partition (diaphragm) between the fur chamber and the valve mechanism. They are made of good, even and durable plywood, birch or beech. Several rows of holes are drilled in the deck, which are blocked from the outside by valves and against which the holes of the resonance chambers are installed from the inside.
The sound on the button accordion arises as a result of vibrations of a thin steel plate (tongue, voice) above the slot through which a stream of air is driven. The slots are made in massive, durable stainless strips, brass, aluminum and others. The strips are solid or split, consisting of small plates, separate for each sound, more precisely, for each pair of reeds.
The tongues or voices are made of special spring steel, they are firmly riveted to the slats above the voice box slots. The dimensions of the slits, the length, width and thickness of the tongue depend on the pitch of the sound: they are the larger, the lower the sound, and vice versa. Small copper plates are soldered onto the reeds of the lowest bass tones to make them heavier.
Above the slit, on the side opposite to the tongue, a strip of husky is glued, which closes the glottis slit during the reverse movement of the air stream, and thereby reduces the air consumption, the fur consumption during the game.
Each pair of voices on the bar is opposite a small resonator chamber - a city. The volume of the chamber, its shape and dimensions are important for the strength and timbre of sound, therefore they are specially calculated and designed.
The pods together with the slats constitute a separate structure, the so-called resonators. Wide air holes are drilled at the bottom of each pot to match the holes in the deck. Resonators are glued from birch or alder. Each row of keys on the fretboard corresponds to a separate resonator.
In all connection points where there is a danger of air leakage: between the strips and the walls of the small caps, between the resonators and the soundboard, a seal is laid - strips of fluffy soft huskies. The strips are attached to the resonators with curved pins or small studs with wide heads. In addition, the edges of the planks are filled with molten wax.
The valves are small wooden plates, on the lower side of which strips of soft huskies are glued, and a wire leash is reinforced on top, with the help of which the valve rises and falls, blocking the holes in the deck. The fleecy side of the husky fits snugly against the soundboard, preventing any air from entering the voices, and softens the blow of the valve against the soundboard during play. Sometimes, to reduce the noise when playing, a strip of thin cloth is additionally laid between the valve tree and the husky.
The right keyboard keys are narrow wooden levers that fit into their respective slots on the neck and rotate on a wire shaft. From the side of the neck from above, at the ends of the keys, mother-of-pearl or celluloid buttons are fastened, and at the other ends, holes are drilled with the keys, into which the ends of the valve leashes are screwed or glued. Below in the sockets under the keys there are springs, under the action of which the valves are tightly pressed against the deck.
This is how all three rows of valves are arranged on those accordions, where the neck is located closer to the rear wall of the body. In the same place, where the neck is located closer to the middle of the body, the third row of valves has a slightly different device: the valve levers are bent in a special way and, with the help of two loops, are attached to a wooden bar glued to the deck. The end of the key is brought under the free curved end of the valve driver and presses on it, lifting the valve. In this case, the main valve springs are not installed: under the keys, but directly on the deck, near the axis of rotation of the leash. Under the key itself, in addition, there is an additional small spring that tightly presses the pushing end of the key to the end of the valve driver, eliminating the gap between them and inevitable in this case idling keys.
On the fretboard of a mass-produced button accordion, there are usually fifty-two keys, the range is from C-flat major to C-sharp of the fourth octave. On custom made accordions, the number of keys reaches fifty-eight, sixty-one and even sixty-four. Range at fifty-eight keys: G major to fourth octave E.
The structure of the mechanism of the left keyboard is much more complicated than the right one. - The presence of a bass, which has an octave tripling or even quadrupling, requires a special design of voice plates and resonators. The push-button system of mechanics should provide a wide selectivity of chords in the range of small and first octaves.
Consider the device of the left accordion keyboard, which has one hundred and twenty bass buttons: six rows of twenty buttons in a row.
The left keyboard is associated with two rows of valves, one row (12) for bass and the other (also 12) for chord voices.
Under the bass valves, there are four voice strips mounted on separate resonators, but assembled into one unit. The tuning of each bar differs from the adjacent one by an octave. When the valve is lifted, four octave sounds are sounded simultaneously, for example, when the bass button is pressed, C they sound simultaneously up to high, up to low, up to the first and up to the second octaves. This octave bass boost is necessary to create a certain strength and density of the sound. On some button accordions, the bass is only tripled: the bar for the highest voices is not set.
Each plank has twelve pairs of voices arranged in chromatic sequence. The range of all four bass bars is from the E of the controctave to the E flat of the second octave. The operation of the bass valves is controlled by the first two (counting from the bellows) rows of the left keyboard.
The entire complex chord keyboard controls the sound of only one resonator, which has two solid voice plates on it. There are twelve pairs of voices on each plank, they are located on both sides, as usual, and are tuned in chromatic sequence from G minor to F sharp of the first octave.
All bass and chord valves are connected with special rollers located along the valves parallel to the soundboard by means of pins. For each tone - a separate roller; thus, there are two sets of rollers — twelve bass rollers and twelve chord rollers.
Each roller has several pins that receive the force from the pushers, rigidly connected to the key by the button. The buttons are brought out through the corresponding holes to the front wall of the left half of the case.
When playing, the movement from the finger is transmitted through the push button, on which in a certain place - near the pin of the corresponding roller - there is a small pin. The pin hits the pin, which is rigidly attached to the roller, and causes the roller to turn. Turning, the roller moves the other stud on it, which is connected with the leash to the free end of the valve leash: the valve rises and opens the holes in the deck for air passage to the voices.
The mechanics of the chord keyboard also operate in a similar way, with the only difference that there are several pins on the pusher, which actuate several valves at the same time. So, for example, when you press the G minor triad button, the pusher with pins touches the pins of the rollers associated with the keys of the G, B flat and D sounds, and opens them.
The left accordion keyboard has six vertical rows of twenty buttons each. The first two rows, counting from the fur, are bass, the other four are chords. In the first row are the so-called auxiliary basses - a large third from the main bass; in the second - the main basses, tonics; in the third row - major, large triads; in the fourth, minor, minor triads; in the fifth - dominant seventh chords with a missing fifth; in the sixth - reduced seventh chords
The middle of the left keyboard has seven rows of white buttons, these are keys of "clean" tones, their main bass does not have sharp or flat. Below the white buttons are five rows of black buttons, the main bass of which is flat. Above the white keys are also five rows of black buttons, the main basses of which are sharp. The corresponding rows of the upper and lower black buttons, although they have different names, sound the same, they are enharmonically equal (for example, the key of C sharp is enharmonically equal to the key of D flat). In other words: the black buttons above and below duplicate each other. In addition, above the black buttons, there is one and below the black buttons - two rows of white buttons, which duplicate the three extreme rows of white buttons.
Such a large number of duplicate keys is necessary for the performer to be comfortable playing in any key without unnecessary jumps from the top of the keyboard to the bottom and. vice versa.
In theory, the name of a resonator is understood as a physical body capable of responding to vibrations of a certain frequency and amplifying these vibrations. The simplest example of a resonator is a Helmholtz resonator - a hollow vessel with holes, with the help of which their simplest components can be found in complex sound vibrations, that is, it is possible to analyze sound, since each resonator is tuned to a certain frequency.
In harmonics, button accordions and accordions, a resonator is a system of air chambers of certain sizes built into one wooden structure, which is the base or support for the voice bars.
In practice, resonators are called differently: resonators, cities, etc. However, the first name should be considered more correct, since the air chambers in the resonators really contribute to some extent to the sound and improve the timbre of the sound. Therefore, the sound quality of the instrument depends not only on the vocal strips, but also on the resonator, on the shape and size of the air chambers, calculated for each tone separately.
Reed musical instrument resonators are subdivided into melody resonators, accompaniment resonators, and bass resonators.
The melody resonator (Fig. 43) consists of a middle 1, an upper bar 2, a rosette 3, partitions 4, a fastening bar 5.
The air chamber in the melody resonator, as well as in the accompaniment resonator, is formed between the adjacent partitions, the middle, the upper bar and the outlet. For each air chamber there is one piece voice bar or a pair of tongues of the same tone of a solid bar, sounding in opposite directions of the air; air chambers should be well insulated from each other so that there is no excitation of tongues in adjacent chambers.
The number of air chambers in the melody resonator depends on the range of the instrument and the design of the melody keyboard mechanism.
Depending on the type of instrument, the design of its keyboard mechanism and the voice of the instrument, there are from two to six resonators in the right cover.
B table. 9 shows how the number of resonators of the melody changes with increasing voice of the instrument. 
Due to the change in the dimensions of the added strips, the resonators of the melody undergo some changes.
In mass-produced instruments, the melody resonators are removable. It is more convenient to repair such resonators.
In some custom-made instruments, the melody resonators (especially often in the treble group) are non-removable, that is, they are glued directly to the deck without sockets. Non-removable resonators contribute to better sound formation, but create great inconvenience during repairs, reduce labor productivity when repairing the voice part and tuning, and, as a result, increase the cost of repairs.
The accompaniment resonator (Fig. 44) consists of a mullion 9, an upper bar 3, a socket 8, partitions 5, anchoring bars 1 and 7, dumplings 2 and 6, an air chamber 4.
The accordion and accordion accompaniment resonators have 12 pairs of air chambers, i.e. 12 air chambers on each side of the resonator.
In a harmonic accompaniment resonator, the number of pairs of air chambers is less; it depends on the number of buttons on the left gear (range).
The accompaniment resonators are of the following types:
Accompaniment resonators for mass-produced and custom-made instruments are usually removable.
Depending on the type of bass mechanism, resonators are divided into two main types by design:
In harmonics and accordions, borrowed bass resonators are usually used, in button accordions, and others.
The most common type of resonator for a borrowed bass mechanism (Fig. 45) consists of a mullion 1, upper bars 2, rosettes 4, baffles 6 and tongs 5 and 7.
The lowest sounds for this instrument are located on one side of the grabbed resonator, on the other - on
an octave higher.
In practice, it is customary to call one side of the bass resonator with the lowest sounds I octave, the other - II octave.
It should be noted that these names do not correspond to the actual pitch of the strips located on the resonator, but are conventional names. The actual pitch of sounds of I and II octaves, depending on the instrument, ranges from E or F of a controctave to E or F of a small octave.
The bass resonator for a non-ground mechanism (Fig. 46) consists of a middle 7, an upper bar 5, a rosette, a sub-octave bar 10 III octave, a sub-octave bar 9 IV octave, a resonator 11 III octave and a resonator 8 IV octave.
To the unearthly bass resonator, two more one-sided resonators are added: a resonator of the III octave
and a resonator of the IV octave, since the four-voice bass sound is created by the strips mounted on the I, II, III and IV octaves.
The III octave resonator is intended for strips tuned one octave higher than the II octave, the IV octave resonator - higher by the octave of the III octave resonator. The names of the 111 and IV octaves are also conditional. The resonators of the III and IV octaves are installed on a common socket, and their air chambers are connected by channels in the dummy bars with the air chambers of the same name in the I and II octaves.
The air chambers of the resonators are closed from the outside with voice strips. In this case, it is necessary to fulfill the condition of absolute airtightness between the strips and the plane of the resonator. This is necessary so that air only passes through the vocal openings in the planks and is used to stimulate the reeds. In order for the strips and resonators to be hermetically connected, the strips attached to the resonator are poured along the perimeter with molten wax rosin or ceresin mastics or, more rarely, with nitro paints.
Most suitable material for the manufacture of resonator parts, spruce and fir wood should be considered. It has good sound conductivity, low volumetric weight, and is easy to process.
For the parts of the resonators (except for the rosette and fixing bars), birch and soft-leaved wood can also be used: alder, poplar, aspen.
The resonator sockets are made from hardwood or high quality plywood.
The bass resonator centerpiece is usually made of 3-4 mm thick birch plywood.
The assembly of resonators from parts consists in gluing its parts to the centerpiece, starting from the upper bar. Then proceed to glue the partitions. In the last place, the socket and the resonator mounting bars are glued.
For gluing, wood glue, polyvinyl acetate emulsion, synthetic adhesives, etc. are used.
The gluing process takes place with certain shutter speeds depending on the glue used.
Many enterprises manufacture resonators of melody, accompaniment, III and IV octaves of the bass resonator for more
perfect technology - by milling. This makes it possible to obtain a centerpiece from a wooden blank with partitions and pliers at the same time. Milled resonators are made from beech or spruce.
There are two ways of making resonators by milling: across the grain (wood fibers are directed along the middle) and along the fibers (wood fibers are directed across the middle).
In the resonators made by the first method, it is required to coat the partitions with glue, varnish or other composition, otherwise in open wood pores the vibration energy of the reeds will be absorbed by them and the sound will be dull. Resonators made by the second method do not need to be coated.
I. Fadeev, I. Kuznetsov "Repair of harmonics, button accordions and accordions"
Musical instrument: Bayan
The timbre palette of existing musical instruments is extremely rich, because each of them has its own unique voice. For example, in the violin it is melodiously enchanting, in the trumpet it is piercingly shiny, in the celesta it is transparent crystal. However, there is one instrument that has the rare ability to simulate different voices. It can sound like a flute, clarinet, bassoon, and even an organ. This instrument is called the button accordion and it can rightfully be called a small orchestra. Bayan, with his great artistic potential, is subject to a lot - from the accompaniment of simple folk songs to complex masterpieces of world classics. It is very popular, it sounds on large concert stages and is a constant participant in festive feasts, it is not for nothing that the button accordion is called “the soul of the Russian people”.
The button accordion is one of the most advanced types of harmonica, which has a chromatic scale.
Read the history and many interesting facts about this musical instrument on our page.
Sound
The button accordion, which has a rich musical and expressive potential, opens up great opportunities for performers for creativity. The bright sound is notable for its richness, expressiveness and melody, and the finest thinning gives the timbre a special color. The instrument can be used to perform beautiful romantic melodies, as well as dramatically dark pieces of music.
The sound on the button accordion is formed due to the vibrations of the reeds in the vocal strips under the influence of air, which is created by the fur chamber and is characterized by special dynamic plasticity. The instrument can perform the most delicate transparent piano and fanfare forte.
Bayan, due to its design features(the presence of registers), has a varied timbre palette of sound - from a full-sounding organ, to a soft and warm violin. The tremolo on the button accordion is very similar to the tremolo of the violin, and the dynamic volume of the instrument gives the impression that a full orchestra is playing.
Button accordion range quite large and is 5 octaves, starting from the "mi" of the large octave and ending with the "la" of the fourth.
Photo:
Interesting Facts:
Button accordion design
The button accordion, which is a rather complex structure, consists of two main sections: left and right, connected by fur.
1. Right side of the instrument- this is a rectangular box, with a neck and a deck attached to it, with mechanisms mounted in it. When you press a key, the mechanism raises the valves, thereby allowing air to flow to the resonators with voice bars and reeds.
For the manufacture of the box and the deck, resonator wood species are used: spruce, birch, maple.
A grille is attached to the box, as well as register switches (if such are provided by the design) that serve to change the timbre. The box also contains two large straps for securing the instrument during performance.
On the fretboard, the playing keys are arranged in chromatic order in three, four or five rows.
2. Left body- this is also a rectangular box, in which on the outside there is the left keyboard of the instrument, containing five, and sometimes six rows of buttons: two are basses, the rest of the rows are ready-made chords (major, minor, seventh and diminished seventh chords). On the left case there is a register for switching a ready-made or optional sound production system, as well as a small belt with which the left hand sets the fur chamber in motion.
The left case houses a deck with sophisticated mechanisms for producing sounds in two systems for the left hand: ready-made and ready-to-use.
The fur chamber, attached to the body with frames, is made of special cardboard and pasted over with cloth on top.
The weight of a multi-timbral concert button accordion reaches 15 kg.
Bayan varieties
The large accordion family is divided into two groups: ordinary button accordions and orchestral ones.
Normal have two types, which differ from each other in the left-hand accompaniment systems: ready-made and ready-to-select.
Orchestral button accordions, due to their design features, have a keyboard only with right side housings are also divided into two types:
Application and repertoire
The range of application of the button accordion is very wide; it can also be heard on the stages of large concert halls as a solo, ensemble, orchestral instrument and in amateur ensembles and orchestras of folk instruments. Groups consisting only of accordion players are very popular. The button accordion is often used as an accompanying instrument or just in everyday life at various family holidays.
The instrument is very versatile, it is used to perform works by composers of past eras, as well as music of modern genres: jazz, rock and techno.
The compositions of I.S. Bach, V.A. Mozart , N. Paganini, L.V. Beethoven , I. Brahms, F. Liszt , K. Debussy, D. Verdi , J. Bizet. D. Gershwin, G. Mahler, M. Mussorgsky, M. Ravel, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Scriabin, D. Shostakovich, P. Tchaikovsky, D. Verdi and many other classics.
Today more and more contemporary composers write different works for the instrument: sonatas, concerts and original pop pieces. L. Prigozhin, G. Banshchikov, S. Gubaidulina, S. Akhunov, H. Valpola, P. Makkonen, M. Murto - their musical compositions for button accordion sound very impressive on the concert stage.
Compositions for button accordion
N. Chaikin - Concert for button accordion and orchestra (listen)
P. Makkonen - "Flight over Time" (listen)
Performers
Since the button accordion was very quickly gaining popularity in Russia, the performing arts developed very intensively on it. In connection with the constant improvement of the instrument, more and more creative possibilities opened up for musicians. Particularly noteworthy is the contribution to the development of the performing skills of the innovative accordionists: A. Paletayev, who was the first to switch to five-finger fingering instead of the previously used four-finger, thereby increasing technical capabilities tool; Yu. Kazakov - the first performer on the multi-timbral ready-elective button accordion.
The Russian button accordion school is now very well known all over the world, and the performing arts are now increasingly flourishing. Our musicians are constantly becoming laureates of various international competitions. A lot of young performers enter the big concert stage, but it is necessary to highlight the names of such outstanding musicians as I. Panitsky, F. Lips, A. Sklyarov, Y. Vostrelov, Y. Tkachev, V. Petrov, G. Zaitsev, V. Gridin , V. Besfamilnov, V. Zubitsky, O. Sharov, A. Belyaev, V. Romanko, V. Galkin, I. Zavadsky, E. Mitchenko, V. Rozanov, A. Poletaev, who brought a significant contribution to the development of a modern performing school.
Button accordion history
Each instrument has its own history, and the button accordion also has a background. It began in Ancient China in the 2-3 millennium BC. It was there that the instrument was born, which is the progenitor of the modern button accordion. Sheng - reed wind musical instrument, representing a body with bamboo or reed tubes attached in a circle with copper tongues inside. In Russia, it appeared during the Mongol-Tatar yoke, and then along the trade routes came to European countries.
In Europe at the beginning of the 19th century, using the Sheng principle of sound production, the German organ master Friedrich Buschmann invented a mechanism that helped him in tuning instruments, and which later became the predecessor of the accordion. Somewhat later, the Austrian of Armenian origin K. Demian modified the invention of F. Bushmann, transforming it into the first accordion.
In Russia, the harmonica appeared in the second quarter of the 19th century, it was brought from abroad, bought at fairs from foreign trade people as a curiosity. An instrument that could play a melody and accompany it quickly gained popularity among urban and rural residents. Not one festival took place without her participation; the accordion, along with the balalaika, became a symbol of Russian culture.
In many Russian provinces, workshops began to be created, and then factories that made their own local varieties of accordions: Tula, Saratov, Vyatka, Lebanese, Bologoevsky, Cherepovets, Kasimov, Yelets.
The first Russian accordions had only one row of buttons, they became two-row in the second half of the 19th century, by analogy with the design that was then improved in Europe.
The accordion musicians were mostly self-taught, but they did wonders of performing skills, despite the fact that the instrument was rather primitive in design. One of these nuggets was a worker from the city of Tula N.I. Beloborodov. As an avid accordion player, he dreamed of creating an instrument that would have more performing possibilities.
In 1871, under the leadership of N.I. Beloborodov's master P. Chulkov created a two-row accordion with a full chromatic structure.
At the end of the 19th century, in 1891, after being improved by the German master G. Mirwald, the accordion became three-row, with a chromatic scale, sequentially located in oblique rows. Somewhat later, in 1897, the Italian master P. Soprani patented his new invention - the extraction of ready-made major and minor triads, dominant seventh chords on the left keyboard. In the same year, but in Russia, master P. Chulkov presented at the exhibition an instrument with bent mechanics in the "left hand", which also allowed one press of a key to extract ready-made chords. Thus, the accordion was gradually transformed and became the button accordion.
In 1907 by the master-designer P. Sterligov. on behalf of the accordion musician Orlansky-Titarenko. a complex four-row instrument was made, called "Bayan", in memory of the ancient Russian storyteller. The instrument was rapidly improving and already in 1929 P. Sterligov invented the button accordion with a ready-selectable system on the left keyboard.
The growing popularity of the instrument is accompanied by its constant development and improvement. The timbre capabilities of the button accordion make it truly unique, because it can sound like an organ or wind and string instruments. Accordion in Russia we are popularly loved - it is also an academic instrument that sounds from the stage in a large concert hall, and the symbol Have a good mood, amusing people on a rural heap.
Video: listen to button accordion
Right-hand mechanics of the Jupiter 64/106 button accordion in the process of assembly.
So, the price of the same button accordion, the photo of which flaunts on my profile picture, is 350,000 rubles. Do not look for Swarovski inlay on the case, it is not here. This is an ordinary serial button accordion. The fact is that the manufacture of button accordions is a long, laborious, almost non-automated process.
The creation time of this musical instrument is longer than the time of bearing a human baby. A long eleven months pass from the start of work until the birth of the finished button accordion. Eight different masters are involved in this difficult process. 80% of all production is done by hand.
Left Mechanic Finish Elective Accordion, Experimental. The process of developing a new tool model. Designer - Lavrov Viktor Petrovich.
If you decide to start making harmonics, you should not google the technical schools and universities that produce the corresponding masters. The creators of these musical instruments will have to be taught from scratch. The training process for one professional takes at least 2-3 years.
For the birth of one button accordion you will need:
Master in Nodal Mechanics
Furrier
Hull Craftsman
Resonator Master
Left hand mechanic assembler
Right Mechanic Assembler
Tuner
There is not a single person who would combine all these specialties. It is very very rare to come across a master who is fluent in two of these eight wisdom, but no more.
The salary of the capital's harmonica maker is about 35,000 rubles. Taking into account the cost of renting premises, it is better to organize production somewhere in the province, and maybe outside our vast homeland.
Manufacturing of resonators: installation and gluing of partitions.
Master - Mikhail Ivanovich Kudar
Perhaps the largest harmonica factory is located in Pyongyang. It employs 1,100 people, of which only 80 are managers, and the rest are workers. Mostly accordions are made there. This factory and the Moscow company "Jupiter" are linked by close friendly and partner relations.
Levers assembled with valves of the right mechanics of the accordion Jupiter
Pasting the mesh of the right mechanics.
Master Rybin Mikhail Nikolaevich
Pasting the mesh of the right mechanics
Making the right accordion mechanics Jupiter 4-voice.
Master - Platonov Konstantin Mikhailovich.
This is how the production of a musical instrument takes place. The instrument turns out to be very, very nice.
The last step in creating a harmonic is tuning.
The last step is setup
By the way, the accordion is the button accordion's younger brother, and not vice versa, as many think.
Accordion. Photo taken by Alexey Bondarenko
In general, there are a great many harmonics. For the meticulous, here is the harmonic classification scheme
And here is Alexei himself in the process of creating his new avatar
Alexey Bondarenko is photographed on a new avatar
In the factory, there are even inscriptions on the dust about music
In general, the button accordion is by no means something irrelevant, as they like to say on the Internet, but a popular, interesting and very serious musical instrument. Here.
